People who live in or are native to a colony; plural form referring to colonists or inhabitants of colonial territories.
Plural of 'colonial' used as a noun. From Latin 'colonia' through French 'colonial.' The term became standard in the 17th-18th centuries when European powers were actively establishing overseas settlements.
Early American history class gets a lot more interesting when you realize 'colonials' didn't call themselves that—it's how later historians grouped diverse people (soldiers, farmers, merchants, enslaved people) into one category that erased their real identities.
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